Nikon Coolpix S5 Review

The Coolpix S5 is equipped with an internal 3x Nikkor optical zoom lens with a 35 - 105mm (in 35mm equivalent) focal length coverage. The maximum aperture is F3.2 to 5.3 and it has a dedicated macro mode. When powered down the lens is protected by a builtin shutter, no lens cap needed.

The wide-area AF achieves more accurate autofocus through analysis of a larger area of the frame. Auto focus is handled by a contrast detect TTL system with a low light AF-assist lamp, the focus range is from 12 in. (30cm) to infinity in normal, 1.6 in. (4cm) to infinity in Macro mode (wide angle). Auto focus can be single-AF or Continuous-AF with Auto area selection, Center-focus area selection or Manual area selection available.

The built-in speedlight has a shooting range of approx. 0.3-2.6m/ 1 ft. - 8 ft. 6 in. (W), approx. 0.3-1.4m/ 1 ft. - 4 ft. 7 in. (T); at ISO Auto, and can be set for Auto Flash, Red-Eye Reduction, Fill Flash, Slow Sync or Disabled.

The large 2.5-inch color LCD with 230,000 pixels of resolution serves as the viewfinder as well as for reviewing your images and movies and accessing the menu screens. In lower light conditions the LCD will "gain up" for better framing and provides 100% coverage. The screen features a 170-degree wide viewing angle.

I wish that one design team talked to another at Nikon - the Coolpix L2, L3, L4, P3 and P4 all feature glare-resistant LCD displays -- so why does the S5 and S5 have a great big shiny LCD -- it is like a giant mirror for reflections!

Controls on top include a button to quickly select the Face-Priority portrait mode in record or the D-Lighting function in playback. The shutter release, the power on/off button and the zoom lens control which also functions as HELP when accessing menus and is the Index and magnify buttons in playback.

Controls on the back: The Record / Playback mode button.

The "M"ode button calls up the onscreen mode dial to select: (Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait, Party/Indoor, Beach/Snow, Sunset, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Close Up, Museum, Fireworks Show, Copy, Back Light, Panorama Assist, Voice Recording.)

The MENU button calls up and dismisses menu screens. The "trashcan" button is for deleting images.

The 4-way selector is for navigating menus and selecting pictures. In record mode pressing it "Up" selects the desired flash mode. Pressing it "Left" activates the 10-sec selftimer. Pressing it "Down" enables the macro focus mode. The center OK button accepts menu selections and enables Auto Transfer of images. The rotary dial allows for easy selection of recording mode or playback images.

The Coolpix S5 is equipped with ~21MB of internal memory and a SD memory card slot, no card is supplied with the camera. Images and movies can be copied from internal memory to SD card or vice-versa. We recommend the purchase of at least a 256MB (or larger) SD card or your picture taking will be quite limited.

The camera is powered by a proprietary EN-EL8 rechargeable Li-Ion battery which provides approx. 210 shots (CIPA standard) per charge.

An optional power adapter allows the camera to be powered from an A/C wall outlet.

Connection of the USB 1.1 cable for downloading images to the host computer or the Audio- Video Out cable to a TV set is accomplished on the rear of the Coolstation docking cradle. The video signal is selectable for NTSC or PAL. The USB cable can be connected to any PictBridge compatible photo printer for computer-free printing.